‘Me neither and I can’t believe what I did. I’m so ashamed, Gemma. I’ve been thinking a lot and I want to be a better person, really I do.’ She flinches as she tries to move. ‘I’m declining the Klara contract because it’s the right thing to do. I worked on her but she’s not mine. It’s time for a fresh start. I realise that Clover Lane turned me into a person I don’t want to be. I’ve spent years trying to get that bunch of arseholes to like me, and guess what? I no longer care. I’m putting the house on the market and getting out of there. How are you, Gemma?’
I laugh for the first time in ages. ‘Glad for it all to be over.’
She drops her pained smile. ‘And how’s the baby?’
‘Thankfully good. One tough cookie is residing in my womb.’
Quinn bites her bottom lip. ‘Thank you for saving my life. I would have understood if you’d left me there to bleed out. I ran from you that day you pushed Jasmine. Had I stayed, one of us could have called an ambulance and… and, she might still be alive. I’ve been a bad friend.’ She pauses. ‘You came back for me.’
‘I went back for Jasmine.’
‘And we know what happened after but we’ll never know why. Are the police still at your house?’
I nod. ‘I think they’ll be there forever. I’m selling it as a project when I get the all-clear to do so.’
‘Good move. New starts and all that. Are you going back to Bristol?’
‘Eventually, but for now we’ll be living in a caravan close to the sea front in Whitby.’
‘So, we can meet up for that drink when I get out of this joint?’
‘I’m banking on it.’
She reaches out and places a hand on mine. ‘There will always be a part of me that thinks of you as more than a friend, Gemma, but I know we can only ever be friends and I want us to be friends. Does that make sense?’
I nod, relieved because that’s all I want from her. I don’t want to walk away from what we have here because I’m not sure who I am or what I want anymore. I know I need to put my children first. I still love Ethan. He will always be my first love, but he’s hurt me. I’ll take as much time as I like to think about the future. All I know is Quinn and I share a past that will bond us forever. We’ve both made mistakes but we are better people for them, aren’t we? I trust that Quinn has changed. She’s done the right thing when it comes to turning down the contract. It’s her new start just like moving is mine. It’s time to embrace the future.
Sixty-Two
Morgan
I hate hospitals and I hate this stupid canteen with its stupid sandwiches. I mean, why don’t they sell poke bowls? I’m starving. Dad won’t be back for hours and who knows how long Mum will have to stay in hospital? I rub my neck and I’m slightly sore where Zoe kept prodding the knife in me. I leave the queue, then I run out of the hospital. Gasping, I bend over and try to gain control of my breaths, but nothing is working. I nearly died last night.
The police interview gave me the chills. They took photos of my neck, asked me lots of questions and I can barely remember much, and I cried. I can’t believe I broke down. One day I want to be a detective like them but I acted like such a victim.
‘Detective Morgan.’
I flinch and look up. ‘Harry?’ He offers me a chocolate bar so I take it.
‘You here with your mum?’
I nod. ‘Been here all night.’
‘Same. Mum is going to be okay but I thought I was going to lose her.’
I place my hand on his shoulder and he leans in for a hug.
We sit on the bench in the cold, staring out at the snowy bits of grass dividing the grounds and car park. We talk about everything that happened. Harry is as surprised as me to hear that Zoe was behind the letters and that she tried to kill me. I told him how after she startled me in the woods, she told me that Harry was at the den and that he had something to tell me. Then I tell him about Jasmine’s bones.
‘I wondered why there were police in your house earlier.’
‘You went back?’
He nods and blinks a couple of times. ‘Mum forced me to call a taxi and go feed and walk Diggerty. To be fair, he was desperate to pee. Oh.’ He picks up a bag from next to him and pulls out a huge box of chocolates with a little note on the front. ‘From the neighbours. Word has got round. Sid told Tessa and then she told Ray. I saw the police heading to Ruby’s. It looks like they’re questioning all the neighbours. Anyway, some of them had a collection and got these for our mums.’ He pauses. ‘I was just heading back to Mum.’
‘My mum is with yours. I’ll come with you,’ I say, glad to have my friend back with me.
As we walk, he turns to me and smiles. ‘Morgan, do you know if you’ll be sticking around?’
